Season One
A Wedding Party Daimyo Daidoji Uji charges Daidoji Tsurumatsu with escorting the Lady Tomiko as her Yojimbo (bodyguard) to Kyuden Bayushi for her wedding with Bayushi Koetsu (an influential Scorpion Courtier). Tomiko is the daughter of Daidoji Uji’s brother, beautiful with pale features, green eyes, black hair, petite at just over 5 ft tall. It is 6 years since Tsurumatsu has seen Tomiko this close when he saved her life and in doing so was raised to samurai status. He is to meet a small Scorpion entourage at Kosaten Shiro who will escort the wedding party through Beiden Pass into Scorpion Lands. He will be travelling with Daidoji Arimoto, a huge samurai who is travelling to Scorpion lands for his inkyo (retirement) as well as two of Tomiko’s maids from the Iwase vassal family, Katsue and Iwase The Silver Lotus The wedding party is met at Koseten Shiro by Bayushi Katsumi (Cousin of the betrothed) and Soshi Hideo, his scribe. Gifts from Bayushi Koetsu are given to Tomiko and all seems well. The Party retires to the Silver Lotus Inn. There are two new arrivals at the Inn, Mirumoto Kouei (huge Dragon Bushi) and Asako Akahito (Pheonix Shugenja) introduce themselves after having met the previous day on the road after Kouei was found amidst the dead bodies of 6 bandits. Akahito tells Tsurumatsu of a dark omen that he has forseen following the wedding party. This rings true as Tomiko has been experiencing a set of recurring nightmares about a dark shadow that seems to follow her through a dark deserted castle. She has thought it is just nerves leading up to her marriage to a man she hardly knows and has only seen once 3 years ago. A Daidjoi samurai is disgraced and ordered to commit sepukku by Tsurumatsu. An argument between Tsurumatsu and Kouei leads to the samurai being relieved of his sepukku burden only to die in a duel with Kouei. During this duel tensions are running high when Akahito insults Katsumi and nearly gets involved in a duel himself. Tsurumatsu and Kouei agree to put aside their differences until dawn. Shadows in the Night During the evening the Silver Lotus is attacked by shadowy assassins. A battle ensues and two of the three assassins are destroyed while the other escapes into the darkness. They are confirmed as being creatures of the Shadowlands by Akahito who had previously set wards against Shadowlands creatures which have somehow been destroyed. A Matter of Honour The party rise just before dawn to witness the duel between Tsurumatsu and Kouei. It is over swiftly with a heavy strike knocking Tsurumatsu to the ground. The group moves on towards the border with the Lion clan. Crossing the river At the river that marks the border between the Crane and Lion lands, figures are noticed on the far side who scurry away into the treeline on either side of the road. A battle ensues with the bandits who are defeated fairly easily. Lion clan armour is found on one of the bandits. The group is then intercepted by a mounted Lion patrol led by a strangely dishonourable Samurai Matsu Kenji. Once he realises Tsurmatsu is Daidoji, he blames him for his brothers death at Toshi Ranbo a year ago. He rains insults down on Tsurumatsu and his clan saying they are mangy dogs – “run home to your master with your tail between your legs curr.” Another patrol arrives with the Lead Samurai (Akodo Tekkan) who reprimands Keni and sends him on his way. He is totally honourable and even though he also lost close kin as Toshi Ranbo he is the epitome of Rei (Courtesy) – He suggests the group stay at the “Blade of Heaven” Inn near the southern gates as far from the barracks as possible. The Lions den The group arrive at Shiro Matsu and head for the "Blade of Heaven" Inn, whose owner Koichi is known by Katsumi. The group cleanses themselves with the aid of Akahito and the majority of them end up at the Dojo of the Swift Blade. Kouei duels with the Sensei and looses. They are invited to take tea with the Sensei (Akodo Heiji) and his aging master (Akodo Shinzai). A pleasant evening is spent by all and eventually they return to the Inn after the Kouei is spoken to in private by Master Shinzai who mentioned Kouei’s loss due to a single major flaw in his technique. That evening there is another attack, when one of the samurai injured at the river breaks into Akahito's room and tries to kill him. Katsumi intercedes and decapitates the "posessed" samuari. The shadow assassin that escaped the previous evening returns and again battles on the rooftop with Hideo. Hideo destroys the shadow but not before being struck in his eyes and blinded. After being ministered to by Akahito his sight slowly starts to return over the next few hours. Beiden Pass The group leaves Shiro Matsu early in an attempt to make good time into Beiden Pass. Just before entereing the pass, Lady Tomiko's palanquin is discarded and hidden. She and her handmaidens are disguised in less obvious clothing and continue on foot. The group rests at mid-day and luckily notice figures on the distant slopes of the pass sneaking towards them. The word is put around to make ready and battle commences. The foes seem to be bandits and have a mixture of foot soldiers and archers. As Kouei, Katsumi and Arimoto route the archers, they notice more foot soldiers lumbering towards them. They notice that these soldiers seem to have no regard to their own defence and attack mindlessly. Their mouths are stitched together with black thread and their faces are dark with lifeless eyes. Katsumi recognises one of them but can't place where he has seen him before. Before there is time to regroup fully, Akahito hears horses approaching at a gallop from the North and raises the alarm. The group is being charged down by a group of eight mounted samurai led by Matsu Kenji. Tsurumatsu orders Arimoto to protect Tomiko and escape with her on horseback while he and the others hold off the Lion Samurai. The battle is fast and bloody, the Lion samurai are killed including Matsu Kenji who takes a perfect shot from Tsurumatsu's bow directly through his face armour. There are some major injuries to Kouei and Katsumi as they battle. Arimoto brings everyones attention to the South where most of the bandits they head earlier killed have risen to fight again. Everyone tries to make an opening in the ranks of the mindless dead to allow Arimoto to escape with Tomiko, but Arimoto's horse falls throwing the veteren Samurai and Tomiko to the ground. Katsue catches Kouei's attention and tells him of a way they can escape into the mountains down a nearby pass that looks like a dead end. The party eventually retreat down the pass following Katsue who leads them into a small dark opening in the rockface. Arimoto pushes Tsurumatsu and crew forward into the cavern entrance saying “Well I guess I wasn’t cut out for the quiet life anyway” and plunges into combat to hold the Lion samurai and zombies at bay. Katsumi attempts to bring a rockslide down on the heads of the pursuing undead, but fails by a whisker, trapping some of their pursuers inside the caverns with them. Into the Dark The group descend into the mountainside, persued by their undead attackers. Katsue has gathered some of the stakes from the donkey and has fashioned crude torches. Katsumi fires off several arrows at the entrance to the cave system and after a few minutes there is no sound of pursuit. The group descend deeper into the mountainside. When asked about her knowledge of the caves, Katsue tells that she was brought up as a child in Beiden. The children would dare each other to go into the "haunted" caves and during that time she found a path through the cave system that came out two thirds of the way through the pass itself. After several hours travel, a simple tune being hummed echoes through the tunnels before the party. Investigation reveals a monk, bald headed and dressed in simple saffron robes, preparing water. With him is a peasant carrying a backpack. The monk introduces himself as Kisho ("One who knows his own mind") and offers water to the weary travellers. Ater a little investigation into his background and reasons for being in the cave system, he reveals he is a scholar looking for an ancient Naga temple that he believes to be somewhere close in the caverns. The group decides to rest and share food. Tomiko reveals that she has some knowledge of the elements (especially water) and she and Akahito aid the party in recovering from some of the serious wounds taken in the battles previously. Katsue and Kisho speak for a short while after which she is very angry and storms off saying that she will not be spoken to in that manner. Tsurumatsu speaks with Katsue to see what the problem is and everything calms down again. It is decided that the peasant be given the task of getting back to Beiden and informing the authorities of what has happened. He heads back with a ring from Katsumi which he is to give to the owner of The Seven Stars Tea House in Beiden. The rest of the group determine watches and rest. The watches are very difficult with each person watching starting to fall asleep while on guard. When Mirumoto Kouei comes to after falling asleep, he notices that the three women have dissapeared. Everyone is wakened and prepare to set off in persuit. Akahito communes with the earth spirits but finds that they have only recently arrived in the area, the ones that were here previously having been banished. Kisho takes a few moments to meditate and communes with his ancestors who inform him that the three women left the cavern heading out of the Eastern exit some 30 minutes or so ago. They were not under duress, nor were there any others with them. The only thing that was unusual was that the eldest of them (Katsue) had no ancestors watching over her. A sign that she had been disowned by her ancestors for some reason OR that she had no ancestors... The Hidden Temple The party leaves in search of the missing women. After a long and arduous search throughout the dark caverns they hear a womans scream in the distance. The screaming continues for about 5 minutes, interspersed with sobbing. Making hast towards the sound, the group discovers a hallway lined with statues of Naga carved from the solid stone. The artwork is beautiful and very detailed. Beyond is a large cavern lit by guttering torches and emitting a punguent burnt fat odour. The cavern is divided by a wide chasm with a single bridge crossing it, again carved out of the natural rock. At the far side of the cavern is an alter with a shrouded figure laying upon it wrapped in black silk from head to foot. There are several patches on the silk which are slick to the touch as if wet. Fearing the worst, Tsurumatsu cuts open the shroud to reveal Eriko's mutilated body. All fingers have been cut off and sealed with black candle wax. Her eyes, ears and nose have been removed and the sockets again filled with black wax. She has several cuts into her arms from wrist to elbow, but there is nowhere near enough blood on the alter to account for how much she must have lost. The rest of the party ensure that there is nothing else in the area and between them discover a fantastic Wall carving depicting a woodland scene in amazing detail. After examining the scene for a few minutes, it almost becomes alive, with the grass and trees appearing to move in a breeze. The only item that doesn't move seems to be two leaves on a vine in the centre of the carving. Careful inspection reveals that one of the leaves can be removed and as it is, there is a hissing of air as the carving slowly slides apart revealing a strange watery like substance approximately 10 feet across by 7 feet high. The surface is icy cold to the touch and has a consistency similar to pushing through thick treacle. Kisho believes it to be a portal the spirit realms and Tsurumatsu pushes himself into it believing it is the only place that Tomiko and Katsue may have gone. Eventually everyone follows Tsurumatsu and they find themselves in a cold dark area where natural light from torches seems to be "eaten" by the claustraphobic darkness. Looking back through the portal, everything seems to be moving much slower on the other side, guttering candles seem to idly sway to and fro, and people coming through seem to move at a snails pace. The only sign that can be seen in the dim torchlight is a thin silver line upon the floor leading directly away from the portal. The Ways After a few hours of following the silver line, the area opens into an "island" containing a black stone monolith approximate 9ft tall by 3 ft wide by 1 ft deep. Intricate lines of the same silver are engraved upon the monolith. Kisho determines it to be the language of the Naga and starts attempting to decipher it's meaning. After some time he believes he has an understanding of it. It appears to be a marker stone with directions of how to reach other locations and other stones. He believe them to be within an area between the spirit worlds travelled by the Naga thousands of years previously. He recognises 4 locations on the Monolith *"The Great Crater in the Earth" = Pit of Fu Leng *"The rent in the great mountains" = Beiden Pass *"The Great Mountain of Fire" - Volcano in Dragon Lands *"The Great City" - Presumably a great Naga City in Shinomen Forest After deciding that Katsue and Tomiko must be heading towards the Shadowlands and the Great Pit of Fu Leng, the group sets off in persuit. The Ways seem to be made up of many "islands" of dark rock connected by bridges and ramps both upward and downward. All the stonework is pockmarked as if crumbling from age, even the walkways have slivers of stone that sometimes break underfoot leaving shallow depressions and giving the appearance of rock eaten away by acid rain. After a long while and several Monoliths, it is obvious that physical directions are not entirely dependable as lights seen far below suddenly appear far above and there is a continual feeling of disorientation. Eventually the group spots light from an island some 50ft above them. Soshi uses his arcane knowledge to reach the edge of the island and sees Katsue, Tomiko and a huge Oni with flames rippling over its body. He reports back to his comrades and they make haste to try to catch up. Confrontation After making very quick time, the group finally gets to a point where they can see their foes and battle commences. After a difficult battle, the Oni is defeated and Katsue is kicked over the edge of the island to fall into darkness her screams can be heard for 30 seconds or so before the fall out of earshot. During this time, Kisho is stabbed by Tomiko while he tries to help her, then she falls unconscios as soon as Katsue is no more. The group quickly assess their damage and heal themselves as quickly as they can, wanting to exit this place now that Tomiko is safe. The Black Wind They head back the way they came, Tomiko is carried between Tsurumatsu and Katsumi. After a couple of monliths back towards the portal in Beiden Pass, they feel a movement of air towards them up one of the ramps they must descend. They notice scratch marks in some of the stonework around and start to hear a low moan in the distance ahead of them. Kisho communes with the spirits and speaks with a Naga spirit. The Naga tells of the "Dark Wind" and that "it's kiss is death". They quickly decide they must find another exit and decide to head towards the Great City hoping that it will bring them out near the Shinomen Forest, a few days from Scorpion lands. As they are making their way towards their new exit, te wind becomes stronger and they hear sratching and scrabbling sounds of movement behind them. They pick up speed and soon are being passed by mansized ratlings. Kisho and Akahito recognise them as "Nezumi" intelligent creatures that reside in the Shadowlands and on the fringes of society. The Nezumi pay them no attention and appear to be running from the Black Wind also. The final monolith is reached and the silver line can be seen heading off into the drakness towards the exit. The Black Wind is now mere seconds behind them and there is a scream of fear, excitement, pain and hunger from it. In the distant darkness they can see the bright light of the exit portal, but it is slowly closing. The group makes it out with tendrils of the Black Wind trying to engulf Kisho, who suffused by the Light of Shinsei, brings up the rear so everyone else can get out. Kisho cartwheels out of the gateway that is almost shut and everyone falls in a heap in a 20 foot clearing in a forest. There is a slam of something hitting the rockface behind them, and black smoky tendrils start to push open the portal trying to get out. After a few seconds of intense spell casting the Black Wind is forced back and the portal seals leaving everyone exhausted and panting for breath. Shinomen The group moves out of the clearing and into the thick tree line. A tiny space between the thick trees is found and they decide to rest for a while. Soshi climbs the tallest tree around them to try and work out where they are. He sees only trees to all directions except East where in the far distance he can see a mountain range. The resting time is taken to rest and recover. It is noticed that Tomiko is not speaking, eating or drinking and seems to stare off into the distance for minutes on end. While the rest of the group speaks of what must be done and how to make their way out of the forest, Katsumi spends time speaking with Tomiko and after half an hour of talking as if to a mannequin, starts to get some responses to his questions and stories. Eventually Tomiko drinks a little of the water offered to her, eats a tiny amount of food and goes to sleep beneath a rough travellling blanket... After hours travelling through the forest, the group comes across a Nezumi (ratling) scout. They speak for a while and persuade the Nezumi to help them get out of the forest. He escorts them to his village where the Nezumi elder speaks with them. They find out that they have travelled the Ways in order to escape the Shadowlands. They have a thriving culture and are not the "Vermin" that the Crab tend to portray them as. They are allowed a guide to take them to the outskirts of the forest on the understanding that they tell no-one of their village within the Shinomen Forest. They are given a gift of a Nezumi broach which will identify them as friends of the Nezumi if they ever return. Thunder and Lightning The party emerge from the forest onto the plains of Osano Wo. The sky is dark with clouds and there is the rumble of thunder overhead. They make their way towards Shinden Osano Wo (Temple of the Thunder God) and as they approach rain starts to fall and lightning fills the air. They notice that there seems to be some sort of fighting going on with the monks from the temple trying to hold back warriors or bandits. After a lengthy battle, the bandits are defeated but most of the monks from the temple are dead or injured. The Party do what they can to help the injured and the head monk speaks with the party about what has happened. It transpires that the attack was just a diversion to allow thieves to steal an ancient artifact that was hidden within the Temple. Kusanagi no Tsurugi "The Grass Cutting Sword" is an ancient artifact that Osano Wo is beleived to have discovered after defeating an eight headed serpent. The legend of the sword indicates that whoever shall take it as their own shall lay waste to the Empire in a storm of Blood and Death. It was lost durng a battle at sea some 500 years ago, but was later found and has been kept at the temple in secret for many years. No-one is supposed to know of its whereabouts as a replica was forged and is displayed in the Palace at Otosan Uchi. The abbot asks the party to take several letters to Kyuden Bayushi that must be distributed to the Daimyo and the heads of the other Orders of Monks. The Scorpions Tale Continuing their travel towards the Scorpion Capital, Mirumoto Kouei hears some strange noises from within the treeline as he scouts ahead. Investigating the source of the noise reveals a small grove where personal belongings, weapons and armour is suspended from the trees and swing gently in the breeze. He notices movement of someone within the grove but returns to the party to tell them what he has found. Bayushi Katsumi explains that he has seen Traitors Grove, a Bayushi holding where traitors to the Scorpion Clan are taken to be punished. It is said that their souls are trapped within the grove in eternal torment for their treachery in life. He believes the grove is tended by a single Shugenja. Shortly afterwards as they continue, they are met by Bayushi Koetsu and his men who have come to meet and take over the escort duty for Lady Tomiko. There is no love lost between the two Scorpion cousins, and it is obvious that Koetsu and his men have a certain disdain for Turumatsu, though Koetsu is the epitome of good manners. The group travels back to Kyuden Byushi and Tomiko is entertained at Katsumi's house where his Wife and children are waiting. During the evening the house is attacked by Ninja and after a short battle they are defeated. Shortly thereafter Bayushi Koetsu arrives with his armed guards and asks if he can be of assistance as it is obviously unsafe for Lady Tomiko to stay with Katsumi. Tomiko is escorted to Koetsu's estate with the Party as Crane Honour Guard. Later in the early evening, a message arrives for Katsumi saying that his Wife and children were attacked while in one of the parks, and that his youngest child has been abducted. He leaves immediately to se his wife and find out what has happened. Meanwhile Koetsu meets with the remaining "Honour Guard" and asks Tsurumatsu, as the only true Crane here, to give Tomiko away on the wedding day as the rest of her family will not be able to get there due to war breaking out between the Crane and the Lion Clans. Tsurumatsu turns around the slight aimed at causing him pain, as he is pretty sure that Koetsu knows of his affections for Tomiko, and gladly accepts the offer. Soshi Hideo goes out to meet with his clan members to see what is known about the kidnapping of Katsumi's child and returns with news that the child has been found and rescued. Love and Honour The wedding takes place with all the ceremony as expected. Tsurumatsu gives the bride away and all is well. Shino attempt to trip Tsurumatsu but fails, himself falling into an ornamental pond amidst much laughter. A massive party is held within Kyuden Bayushi and the players get to meet with the higher ranking Scorpion, including Shoju and Kachiko. Just as Tsurumatsu is leaving he is handed a note from Lady Tomiko's maid - inside is a beautifully scribed Haiku (Poem) "Even within the trees deepest scar new growth." The group leave to investigate the warehouse where Katsumi's son was rescued. After searching around they find the body of one of the thieves from the temple of Asano Wo. The only item of interest is a small pouch with remnants of Black Lotus - a narcotic known to be traded illegally from Ryoko Owari Toshi (Journeys End City also known as the City of Lies to non Scorpions)